the sky's the limit
by a mountain of gideon's scones
Summary: because happiness can never be quantified. Various characters. 1. Peter Pettigrew. 2.Harry Potter
1. Peter Pettigrew, for Ev

_I said to some people that I'm going to be completing my 'Happiest Moments' Competition I'm running on HPFC myself, __**after**__ the closing date._

_I am… but I'm starting with this one, as a tribute to Evelyn, who was supposed to complete it but…unfortunately, she is no longer with us._

_Therefore, Peter Pettigrew has been taken from the list besides for current claims, incase cheating could occur._

_I hope you enjoy this._

_RIP, Ev._

_I don't own anything_

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_**Peter Pettigrew's Happiest Moment:**_

Happiness is an emotion which has never really been present in my life. True, I had friends in the Marauders, yet I never _really_ felt as if I fitted in with the other three; James and Sirius were the best friends with Remus fitting in because he was a werewolf. What need did they have for me, Peter Pettigrew, the snivelling idiot who failed at lessons and, to this day, still has no idea why I was placed in Gryffindor.

I'm not brave; I've _never_ been brave. I'm not strong or fearless. All I did was follow in the footsteps of the other three, tag along with them on their dares and pranks. I never really fitted in, no matter how much I tried to believe that I did.

I suppose the first time I _really _felt happiness was perhaps when I went home for the summer holidays after my first year. To be able to tell my mother about my strong, fierce friends who seemed to not actually be bothered about having me around (though I made out we were closer than that) was the best moment that had happened in my life when I was eleven.

As I got older, happiness seemed to drain away even more. You-Know-Who was getting more and more powerful in the wizarding world and I lived in fear that I wouldn't make it through the night. I wasn't strong enough to fight in_ any_ realm of magic, but I joined the Order of the Phoenix in a way to remain close to people who _could_ protect me.

That moment fifteen or so years ago, when I was accepted by the Dark Lord to join the Death Eaters as a spy for them, a way to increase the longevity of my life, was quite happy… but it was tinged with fear and even a little guilt that I was betraying my friends. Even today, on the day I have been _finally_ recognised as an important Death Eater for the Dark Lord, I feel a little guilt that I betrayed Lily and James in such a way that they died. They were my friends, yet they wanted to destroy the one person who could protect me, the side which made my life expectancy increase – after all, did you see Benjy Fenwick in pieces, see the deaths of the Prewett brothers as they fought against the stronger side? I couldn't allow myself to suffer the same, albeit much faster, fate…

Happiness could perhaps be found in the decision by the Potters to make me their Secret Keeper, but I don't think that that can be deemed my happiest moment. After all, I know they didn't _really_ want me, that they wanted Sirius but it was his idea to change to me. I was the back up choice, the one so bad at magic that the opposition would _never_ think to believe that I could have such a powerful secret.

But I did. I gave it up in exchange for my life, the chance to live to see life with the Dark Lord in control… I had to sacrifice my 'friends' for that, which therefore gives reason for me to believe that _any_ moment to do with the Potters, Sirius or Remus cannot be my happiest.

That leaves me with today then.

For thirteen years, I've been able to live as a rat, live in my Animagus form with the Weasleys, treat more like a human being than I was when I _was_ a human. Well, I was until last year, when I was exposed.

But then… then I was able to head and find my master, head to try and find him to help restore him to power. I needed him as much as he needed me… as I would be dead by now if I didn't have his protection.

And he wouldn't be able to be coming back.

The blood from Harry's arm falls into the cauldron as I stand over it, waiting for this to begin to work, so the Dark Lord can return _properly,_ not as some half being.

I've given my arm for this chance to have someone stronger than me in control, to have the chance to be accepted by him once more and have power in the world. The Dark Lord will win… it is inevitable. I know he will win.

I think _this_ is my happiest moment. For, you see, this is the beginning of a chance for me to have a new life with someone who will _always_ win over the Order of the Phoenix. This boy, Harry, he's his father's son, which could be his downfall.

I'm happy today. I have stood with the Dark Lord enough so that he will overlook any mistakes on my behalf in the past, simply see the fact that I have helped him more than the others during his period of convalescence.

_I_ have helped bring back Lord Voldemort. It is _me_ who stands here, bringing him back. Not Malfoy, not the Lestranges…_me_… perhaps McGonagall was wrong when she said (in private) I would never amount to anything.

I'm happy here.

And, I think, this is the first time I can _truly_ say that I have been happy.

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_Thoughts?_

_Don't fav/alert without reviewing please!_

_RIP again, Ev, and I can only hope that you'd have written something at least semi-similar._

_Since this is my piece for Ev, you may as well (if you can be bothered) mark it, if you want:_

_/**10** for canonness with the books, /**10** for how in character it is, /**1** for grammar, /**1** for if it stays in first person, /**1** for spelling & /**1** if you think there's anything good about it that deserves an extra mark._

_Thanks, guys, if you do that for me._

_Vicky xx_


	2. Harry Potter

_So, I'm finally getting round to doing this again._

_I don't own anything_

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_**2. Harry Potter**_

My life has, on the whole, been pretty happy. I can't say that it's been entirely happy, because of every single loss in my life, every year that I was against Voldemort, yet the years that followed were more than magnificent. Ginny marrying me, three perfect children, head of the Auror office…everything came together in the most magnificent of ways, completing my life entirely.

Yet someone asked me the other day what my happiest moment is. And I realise that my happiest moment _hasn't_ occurred after Hogwarts, hasn't been anything to do with the success and life I had after Voldemort became neigh. It hasn't anything to do with Ginny, my beautiful children, or even my best friends. In all honesty, it doesn't even have anything to do with the physical castle of Hogwarts, even though the happiest moment of my life technically occurred in the grounds.

The happiest moment of my life was when I held the resurrection stone in my hands, the moment when my eyes closed and then reopened to have my family before me. my family has never been restricted to simply my parents – if that was the case, I don't know how I would have gotten through the years of the struggles.

No, the moment my eyelids swooped open to reveal my mother, my father, Sirius and Remus, _that_ was the happiest moment of my life. For the first time that I can remember, it was the only time we have all been together, happy. I had the experience of my parents, able to memorise their faces for myself rather than just from photos. I could hear the words that I always wanted to know – that they were proud of me and never were going to leave me.

_That_ was my happiest moment, absolutely no contest. For the first proper time in my life, I felt complete with the knowledge of my family, rather than the continuation of doubt about whether my parents would support me.

Life has brought me many great things, yet this, I feel, is the greatest.

* * *

_This idea just hit me._

_Don't fav/alert without reviewing please and thank you._

_Vicky xx_


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